Australia still an 'outpost of Europe' says Malaysia's Mahathir

Jakarta: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has "destroyed everything that we have built" and brushed aside the rule of law, according to the country's longest-serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad.

And in an interview with Fairfax Media the 92-year-old Mahathir, who for years stymied attempts by successive Australian prime ministers to move closer to the ASEAN bloc, cited the long-abandoned and racist White Australia policy and suggested Australia was still "an outpost of Europe".

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 92, former prime minister of Malaysia, is on the comeback trail. Credit:Fadza Ishak

Malaysia's national elections must be held by August 24 but most commentators expect they will be called by the end of April, once an electoral boundary realignment that is expected to heavily favour Najib is completed.

In an astonishing twist, Mahathir has also promised to seek a royal pardon for his protege turned bitter political rival, Anwar Ibrahim, who was jailed during Mahathir's rule on politically-motivated sodomy charges. The pair are now unlikely allies agains Najib, and Mahathir wants to win the election, then instal Anwar as prime minister in his place.

Anwar's first political comeback after his conviction was overturned in 2004 ended when he led the opposition to defeat in the 2013 election. Then he was jailed again a year later, also on discredited sodomy charges, and is due to be released on June 8, though he will need a pardon to re-enter politics.

The once-unimaginable alliance between Mahathir and Anwar has one over-riding objective.

"To remove Najib from being Prime Minister of Malaysia. That is the main thing. All other things that we struggle for, 'reformasi', reformation and all that can only happen if he leaves," Mahathir said.

"Najib has destroyed everything that we have built up in this country. Today he is ruling the country without regard to the rule of law. Even the constitution is not respected.

"Yes, he [Anwar] can become the Prime Minister, once he is qualified [pardoned]."

However, the former leader predicted victory would be difficult to achieve, "as there is going to be massive cheating" by the ruling coalition.

On Australia's possible future entry to ASEAN, an idea recently endorsed by Indonesian president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Mahathir said Australia would first need to prove itself more "Asian than European".

"It sticks out like a sore thumb in this area because it is an outpost of Europe. There are now more liberal attitudes by Australia, in the past of course, it was White Australia, but currently they admit people of other ethnic groups," he said.

In the future, if Asians and Africans were treated as well in Australia as "white" Australians, and "if they understand the priorities of East Asia, then I think they are entitled to join ASEAN".

Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Ismail, is the opposition candidate for deputy prime minister in the unlikely coalition with Mahathir, while their daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, is also an opposition MP.

In a separate interview, Wan Azizah told Fairfax Media it is "a bit surreal" that after a decades-long fight, her husband and Mahathir are fighting for the same side. But it underscored the determination of the opposition parties to blast out Najib.

"The government is pretty strong and has not changed since independence [in 1957], so now I think Malaysians are ready for change," she said.

"I think Malaysians have made up their mind. Enough is enough and we are going to do this."

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But University of Malaya politics professor Edmund Terence Gomez says the most likely outcome is, as in 2013, Najib will lose the popular vote but win enough seats to hold government because of a gerrymander that favours rural constituencies.

Mahathir's re-entry into politics has also been prompted by the so-called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. Najib set-up the sovereign wealth fund and the US Department of Justice has alleged he received $US681 million in stolen money from the fund, a claim the current prime minister has denied.

The former prime minister asserted the current government had stolen money from the fund and promised to recover it and return it to government coffers if elected.

James Massola is south-east Asia correspondent based in Jakarta. He was previously chief political correspondent, based in Canberra. He has been a Walkley and Quills finalist on three occasions, won a Kennedy Award for outstanding foreign correspondent and is the author of The Great Cave Rescue.